TOWARDS A HEALTHY SOUNDSCAPE!

BY T V SAIRAM

Science acknowledges that sound propagates by virtue of the space.

Sound waves are the pressure waves of compression and rarefaction, moving at a speed of 738 miles per hour. A soundwave is a pure motion, involving changes in the pressure of air around, as it is born out of the creation of space, due to sudden separation between particles or objects. When a pressure change occurs at a particular point, it is handed over to the immediately adjacent point and so on, in the form of longitudinal compression wave.

While physicists view sound as a mechanical disturbance from a state of equilibrium that propagates through an elastic medium, the traditional view of sound is rather different.

In ancient times, sound and vibrations formed a scientific discipline. Babylon, Egypt, India and Persia were the study centres. Secular and sacred practices, including simple communications, rituals, healings etc involved the application of sounds.

The Bonpos of the Himalayas had a rich history of elaborate sound practices They recited mantras through out their practices. As alchemists, they had elaborate prescription for making metallic bowls, emanating ripples of harmonics. Shamanic practices around the world used a simple formula:

Vibration+ Visualization = Manifestation.

Several modern day ailments such as stress and stress-related disorders can be directly linked to our minds.

It is quite well-known that our minds get affected by the power of music and noise around us.

As music tends to help us, by harmonizing and calming our minds with healthy patterns of rhythms and resonance, noise with its sudden and irregular sounds can prove harmful to us. It can work as slow poison, leading to psycho-physiological deficiencies in the long run, causing not only deafness (if the decibels are too high) but also affecting our metabolism and mind.

Wolfgang Rauh of the Austrian Taffic Club has noticed that the birds in noisy urban environment such as robins, sparrows, wrens and blackbirds are fast losing their singing and chirping talents , thanks to the automobile and construction site noise-levels. This has seriously affected their breeding pattern, as at mating time, the male had to sing certain notes to attract the female!

The Ear-Brain System

The ear-brain system is one of the many astonishing features we find in our body.

The range of sensitivity to loudness and sound frequencies is so wide that pressure variations of as little as a few parts per 100 000 000 can be perceived by the brain. Variations upto 1 part per 1000 can cause pain and even loss of hearing!

Indian system of music –particularly the raga system- acknowledges such subtleties in human hearing. It makes use of oscillations of notes (gamakas of the carnatic system of music) to convey even the subtle nuances involved in expressing one’s emotions.

Pathogenic Sounds

Sounds can be categorized into two classes: those for which the pressure changes have a random, irregular or unexpected characteristics, and those for which pressure changes are regular, following a pleasant or aesthetic pattern.

It is the complex sound which includes unrelated partials Certain sounds (eg., sudden, screeching noise of the doors, metallic noises of high frequency tones, aerodrome noises, irregularly leaking taps etc) can cause tension and headache. They are capable of creating emotional as well as physiological disorders in the human system, causing restlessness, insomnia, stress, hypertension and a host of diseases related to them.

Such noises have also been found to be dangerous for the growing embryos, as their growth pattern gets affected seriously.

Noise Management

It is therefore necessary that the noise, which is regarded as a completely random collection of pulses is managed efficiently not only for the benefit of individuals and the human society as a whole.

Like land reclamation, wasteland management and landscaping the garden to improve and enrich the physical environment of people, it is essential that noise management also form the part and parcel of human development strategy.

There is a dire need to filter the high-frequency and irregular noises in the urban areas, and getting them replaced with infratonic sounds as we find in nature, viz., sea-coast, forests, waterbodies and whatnot that soothe our hearing faculty. Soft and steady, low-decibel music, appropriate to the spots such as work-place, leisure centres, old age homes, prisons, children activity centres can be tailor-made by a team of psychologists and music therapists and intrduced intermittent with a dose of silence.

For, soundscape refers to a great escape from the pathogenic sounds, caused by urbanization and industrialization.

Towards those healthy vibration levels, which are close to our heart and body rhythms!